Packed with nutrients and full of flavor, this low fat chilled vegetable soup is the perfect thing to keep in the fridge during sweltering summer days when nobody feels much like eating, let alone cooking. There's no need to blanch, peel, seed, or force anything through a sieve, and all of the vegetable goodness ends up right in your bowl.

If you've never had gazpacho—which some people refer to as liquid salad—I urge you to give it a try, even if, like me, you're not a big fan of cold soups. My version is basically a thick juice, which can be sipped rather than slurped—and easily made thinner—if desired. A celery stick and splash of vodka are optional.

Since I've recently gone crazy for Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (and I'm not usually a hot sauce fan), this year's gazpacho will likely be liberally doused with it.

This gazpacho will fill you up without weighing you down, and it just might be the most refreshing way I've found to beat the heat—except for a big scoop of ice cream of course. But that would be for dessert.

11 comments:

Oooo, a splash of vodka. That's an interesting twist. I've only tried cold soups a couple of times and it didn't turn me into a fan either but the vodka idea is one I'll pass on to friends who like cold soups. And maybe give it another go myself.

No red tomatoes here yet, but thanks to you and Cynthia at Love Apple, we have huge, bulbous green tomatoes weighing down vines covering fish heads, aspirin, egg shells, and I forget what else, buried 2 feet down. In this heat and lack of rain, the plants are thriving. Thank you sooo much!!! Cannot wait for gazpacho season. We usually peel toms, and food processor to small dice of everything, but skipping peeling step and pureeing sounds so much easier and more healthy. Thanks again for the recommendation of New Basics cookbook. Stay cool, girl!

Liz,Thanks! Your mention of Tabasco reminded me that I've recently become addicted to Sriracha sauce. This year's gazpacho is going to have some kick! ;)

Erina,The idea of cold soup has never really appealed to me either, but this gazpacho really is more like a juice. As for adding a splash of vodka, I keep meaning to try it, but I usually seem to drink my gazpacho pretty early in the day. . . ;)

Hey Cary,I'm so glad to hear your tomato plants are thriving. You've out done me by finding fish heads and digging down two feet! ;) My plants are still doing well, though. In fact, several of them are so big and bushy they've fallen over despite being in cages, LOL.

The New Basics is such an awesome, inspiring (864-page!) cookbook. If I could only own one cookbook, it would probably be this one.

Hmmmmmm....I've never, ever been a fan of gazpacho, because of that whole cold, should be hot factor. But I have a pile of tomatoes, and a big bottle of Sriracha - very tempting!! With a dollop of yogurt on top?

December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

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